Bad Axe Massacre | |||||||
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Part of the Black Hawk War | |||||||
The American steamboat, Warrior at the Battle of Bad Axe attacking fleeing Sauk and Fox Indians trying to escape across the Mississippi River which resulted in a massacre in the last major engagement of the Black Hawk War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Sauk and Fox affiliated with the British Band | Dakota Sioux | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Black Hawk (Not present on second day) | Wapasha II | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
appx. 500 (including non-combatants) | appx. 1,300 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
at least 150 KIA (including non-combatants) 75 captured | 5 KIA, 19 WIA | ||||||
The Bad Axe Massacre was a massacre of Sauk (Sac) and Meskwaki (Fox) Native Americans by United States Army regulars and militia that occurred on August 1–2, 1832. This final scene of the Black Hawk War took place near present-day Victory, Wisconsin, in the United States. It marked the end of the war between white settlers and militia in Illinois and Michigan Territory, and the Sauk and Fox tribes under warrior Black Hawk.
The massacre occurred in the aftermath of the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, as Black Hawk's band fled the pursuing militia. The militia caught up with them on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, a few miles downstream from the mouth of the Bad Axe River. Historians have called it a massacre since the 1850s. The fighting took place over two days, with the steamboat Warrior present on both days. By the second day, Black Hawk and most of the Native American leaders had fled, though many of the band stayed behind. The victory for the United States was brutal and decisive and the end of the war allowed much of Illinois and present-day Wisconsin to be opened for further settlement.
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